Definition of record:

• A written account of some act, transaction, or instrument, drawn up, under authority of law, by a proper officer, and designed to remain as a memorial or permanent evidence of the matters to which It relates. There are three kinds of records, viz.: ( 1) judicial, as an attainder; ( 2) ministerial, on oath, being an office or inquisition found; ( 3) by way of conveyance, as a deed enrolled. Wharton. In practice. A written memorial of all the acts and proceedings in an action or suit in a court of record. The record is the official and authentic history of the cause, consisting in entries of each successive step in the proceedings, chronicling the various acts of the parties and of the court, couched in the formal language established by usage, terminating with the judgment rendered in the cause, and intended to remain as a per- petual and unimpeachable memorial of the proceedings and judgment. At common law, " record" signifies a roll of parchment upon which the proceedings and transactions of a court are entered or drawn up by its officers, and which is then deposited in its treasury in perpetuam rei memoriam. 3 Steph. Comm. 583 ; 3 Bl. Comm. 24. A court of record is that where the acts and judicial proceedings are enrolled in parchment for a perpetual memorial and testimony, which rolls are called the " records of the court," and are of such high and supereminent authority that their truth is not to be called in question. Hahn v. Kelly, . 34 Cal. 422, 94 Am. Dec. 742. And see O'Connell v. Hotchkiss, 44 Conn. 53; Murrah v. State, 51 Miss. 656; Bellas v. Mc- Carty, 10 Watts ( Pa.) 24; U. S. v. Taylor, 147 U. S. 695, 13 Sup. Ct. 479, 37 L Ed. 335; State v. Godwin, 27 N. C. 403, 44 Am. Dec. 42; Vail v. Iglehart. 69 111. 334; State v. Anders, 64 Kan. 742. 68 Pac. 668: Wilkinson v. Railway Co. ( C. C.) 23 Fed. 502; In re Chris- tern, 43 N. Y. Super. Ct. 531. In the practice of appellate tribunals, the word " record" is generally understood to mean the history of the proceedings on the trial of the action below, ( with the pleadings, offers, objections to evidence, rulings of the court, exceptions, charge, etc.,) in so far as the same appears in the record furnished to the appellate court in the paper-books or other transcripts. Hence, derivatively, It means the aggregate of the various judicial steps taken on the trial below, in so far as they were taken, presented, or allowed in the formal and proper manner necessary to put them upon the record of the court This is the meaning in such phrases as " no error in the record," " contents of the record," " outside the record," etc.
• To register or enroll; to write out on parchment or paper, or in a book, for the purpose of preservation and perpetual memorial; to transcribe a document, or enter the history of an act or series of acts, in an official volume, for the purpose of giving notice of the same, of furnishing authentic evidence, and for preservation. See Cady v. Purser, 131 Cal. 552, 63 Pac. 844. 82 RECORD 999
• To recall to mind; to recollect; to remember; to meditate.
• To repeat; to recite; to sing or play.
• A writing by which some act or event, or a number of acts or events, is recorded; a register; as, a record of the acts of the Hebrew kings; a record of the variations of temperature during a certain time; a family record.
• An official contemporaneous writing by which the acts of some public body, or public officer, are recorded; as, a record of city ordinances; the records of the receiver of taxes.
• An authentic official copy of a document which has been entered in a book, or deposited in the keeping of some officer designated by law.
• An official contemporaneous memorandum stating the proceedings of a court of justice; a judicial record.
• The various legal papers used in a case, together with memoranda of the proceedings of the court; as, it is not permissible to allege facts not in the record.
• Testimony; witness; attestation.
• That which serves to perpetuate a knowledge of acts or events; a monument; a memorial.
• That which has been, or might be, recorded; the known facts in the course, progress, or duration of anything, as in the life of a public man; as, a politician with a good or a bad record.
• That which has been publicly achieved in any kind of competitive sport as recorded in some authoritative manner, as the time made by a winning horse in a race.
• To write or enter a true account of; as, to record events; to put in writing; as, to record one's opinion; register; enroll; to fix in mind; to indicate; as, the clock records time.
• To write anything formally, to preserve evidence of it: to register or enroll: to celebrate.
• To make a record of; write down; fix in mind; indicate; register.
• To reflect; to ponder.
• To sing or repeat a tune.
• make a record of; set down in permanent form
• indicate a certain reading; of gauges and instruments; " The thermometer showed thirteen degrees below zero"; " The gauge read ` empty'"
• be aware of; " Did you register any change when I pressed the button?"
• To register; to enrol; to imprint deeply on the mind; to cause to be remembered.
• To write or register any facts or proceedings in a book for the purpose of preserving authentic evidence of them; to cause to be remembered; to imprint deeply on the mind or memory.
• a compilation of the known facts regarding something or someone; " Al Smith used to say, ` Let's look at the record'"; " his name is in all the recordbooks"
• a list of crimes for which an accused person has been previously convicted; " he ruled that the criminal record of the defendant could not be disclosed to the court"; " the prostitute had a record a mile long"
• the sum of recognized accomplishments; " the lawyer has a good record"; " the track record shows that he will be a good president"
• an extreme attainment; the best ( or worst) performance ever attested ( as in a sport); " he tied the Olympic record"; " coffee production last year broke all previous records"; " Chicago set the homicide record"
• anything ( such as a document or a phonograph record or a photograph) providing permanent evidence of or information about past events; " the film provided a valuable record of stage techniques"
• a document that can serve as legal evidence of a transaction; " they could find no record of the purchase"
• the number of wins versus losses and ties a team has had; " at 9- 0 they have the best record in their league"
• register electronically; " They recorded her singing"
• To preserve the memory of, by committing to writing, to printing, to inscription, or the like; to make note of; to write or enter in a book or on parchment, for the purpose of preserving authentic evidence of; to register; to enroll; as, to record the proceedings of a court; to record historical events.
• A written roll or register made for the purpose of keeping facts or events in memory; as, a school record; an official written or printed report of public acts; a copy of an official document; testimony; as, they bore record to this; in sports, the best performance so far achieved at any given time; as, he holds the record for the high jump; the cylinder or disk for reproducing sounds in phonographs, etc.; the paper roll of an automatic piano player, etc.; a narrative of successive events; as, he left a good life record.
• A register: a formal writing of any fact or proceeding: a book of such writings.
• A register; formal memorial of a fact.
• A copy of a document; written memorial; testimony.
• One's personal history.
• The authorized register of achievements; also, the best recorded achievement.
• A register; an authentic or official copy of any writing or account; the formal statements or pleadings of parties in a litigation; an authentic memorial or account; attestation.
• A register; an authentic or official copy of any facts and proceedings which have been entered into a book for preservation; the book containing these.

Usage examples for record

1. Ba'tiste's record for one lucky winter was fifty- four.  The Story of the Trapper by A. C. Laut

2. A card for each family, with a record on it of the number in the family and of everything given.  Home Fires in France by Dorothy Canfield

3. Ivan's Sunday evening shall know no record here.  The Genius by Margaret Horton Potter

4. Upon the whole it may be better for you, perhaps, to stay at home and read the record of the affair as given in the next day's Times.  Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope